


Violin Lessons

by glassesmcfancyhair



Category: Sherlock (TV)
Genre: Fluff, Other
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-18
Updated: 2018-07-18
Packaged: 2019-06-12 05:43:18
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 758
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15333063
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/glassesmcfancyhair/pseuds/glassesmcfancyhair
Summary: Just a tiny bit of fluff about Rosie and Sherlock, and John watching Sherlock teach Rosie to play the violin.





	Violin Lessons

Despite his vow, John had never expected Sherlock to take such an active and attentive role in Rosie’s care. Which is why each new instance of Sherlock volunteering (not just agreeing, but volunteering) to watch her continues to surprise John. 

It wasn’t that he thought Sherlock incapable, but had always assumed he would be uninterested in the mundane task of child rearing. Instead, Sherlock has gone after it with the same intense enthusiasm with which he pursues any topic he deems sufficiently interesting.

Sherlock dotes on the child, in his fashion, noting any fleeting interest she has and indulging it well past the point of reason. When Rosie is three, she takes to pointing out every tree they pass whenever they are outside. Sherlock’s response is to purchase a great many glossy, sleek botany texts bound in leather. At five, she is positively obsessed with cats and dogs, which she refers to as ‘gentles’ no matter how often Sherlock corrects her in a voice so soft that it hurts John’s heart. Sherlock supplies her with animal anatomy charts and pictures; John draws the line when he comes home to Sherlock teaching his daughter how to conduct a necropsy on a euthanized cat from a local shelter. 

Rosie is dutifully fascinated by Sherlock’s lectures and lessons, but as with any child, her interests are fleeting but intense. 

It isn’t until Rosie is seven that something sticks. 

She has grown up with violin music as the soundtrack to her days. They had learned early that one of the few things consistently shown to calm her was Sherlock’s playing. As she grows, she sits on the sofa, rapt attention on Sherlock as he runs bow across strings. She stares at his fingers as if to memorize their placement, their movement. John caught her poking through Sherlock’s compositions, studying them. Sherlock admits to being aware of Rosie’s curiosity but says no more on the matter. 

Until the day the second violin appears in the flat. The case has Rosie’s name scrawled in gold script. Inside is a beautifully glossy violin. Sherlock says nothing as Rosie takes the violin from the case and joins him. They stand at the windows, watching the world outside like a set of mismatched bookends. Sherlock proves to be an excellent instructor. Rosie is a fast learner, and her incessant focus on Sherlock’s technique over the years pay off when she quickly leaves behind playing scales and moves on to more and more complex pieces. 

In many ways John is grateful. Without meaning to, Sherlock has given him something resembling a manual for his daughter. Brahms? Rosie was excited about something. Beethoven? Feeling more introverted, less likely to want to chat. 

She and Sherlock build their own language as well as Rosie tries her hand at composition when she turns ten. Sherlock is surprisingly kind in his corrections, and he walks her through her piece over and over while they make corrections, adjustments, perfections.

Once John offers to place her in a proper music school so Sherlock doesn’t have to keep teaching her. The appalled look Sherlock gives him is enough of an answer, and John is treated to a barrage of sullen string plucking until Rosie is home from school. 

When Rosie turns eleven, Sherlock takes her to the symphony. It becomes an annual tradition. Mycroft is inordinately pleased when Rosie invites Sherlock’s parents along on her twelfth birthday and Sherlock makes no complaints. 

Rosie gets her first boyfriend at thirteen. The flat is filled with bright, crisp music for exactly two weeks, when the boy kisses another girl and breaks Rosie’s heart. John attempts commiseration, for which Rosie is awkwardly appreciative; Sherlock, for his part, tells Rosie that at least now she has time for important things. Rosie proves as immune to Sherlock’s rudeness as her father, because she simply smiles and picks up her violin. She waits for Sherlock to fetch his, and they begin a soft, mournful tune that carries them into the evening. John makes dinner while they play and the boy is never discussed again. 

By fifteen it is a common occurrence for John to be required to move a stack of sheet music from one or more chairs around the flat in order for anyone to be able to sit. Rosie and Sherlock leave each other messages in the form of musical notes, half-finished compositions left where the other will see it, add to it, change it. John doesn’t fully understand the conversation happening between the two. He doesn’t really mind.

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first attempt at fan fiction, and it's incredibly short. I just like the idea of Sherlock being super into teaching Rosie new stuff, and being secretly incredibly pleased when she takes an interest in the violin. 
> 
> Not edited, written in a short period of time, so if there's mistakes I apologize!


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